Germany

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 6, 10 April 1916, Page 5

Germany

HOLLWEC'S RECENT SPEECH. LIVELY TIMES IN REICHSTAG. SOCIALIST CONTRADICTS THE CHANCELLOR. MEMBERS USE STRONG EPITHETS [Onitbd Prkss Association.] (Received 9 a.m.) Copenhagen, April 9. The organ of the Schleswig Danes at Flensburg publishes a full report of the . proceedings at the Reichstag. When Chancellor von Bethmann-Holl-weg declared that Germany's enemies cliose the war, Herr Liebnecht (Socialist) shouted: "Lies! You chose it!" There was a tremendous uproar, with cries of "Chuck him out! Blackguard! Dirty Dog!" Hollweg, continuing, said: "Vv r e want neighbors with whom we can cooperate to mutual advantage." Herr Liebnecht interposed: "You therefore suddenly assail and strangle them!"

The din that arose was deafening, and the strongest epitets were hurled at Liebenseht, one member shouting: "Hit him on the head!" Liebnecht, at a later stage, during the Naval debate, tried to discuss the submarine question, but was forbidden to continue.

GERMANY'S INHUMANITY. AN APPALLING REPORT. HOW PRISONERS OF WAR ARE TREATED. (Received 10.15 a.m.) London, April 9. ' No record of Germany's inhumanity Is more appajling than the report of the Government Committee, whereof Sir Justice Younger is ['resident, dealing yith the' typhus epidemic at Wittenburg .early in 1915, anion..;; the British and other prisoner,;. The war report issued by the Press Bureau states that there lias been evidence of, long accumulation from returned prisoners, but it was considered so terrible that the Committee awaited the return of Major Priestly, Captain Vidal and Captain Lauder, Army Medical Officers, who fought and conquered the epidemic. Their statements confirm the previous disposi-

tkins. Wittonburg camp, of ten and a-half acres, held sixteen thousand prisoners in the winter of 11)14. ' The overcrowding way serious, and also the !winter was the severest. The heating was inadequate, obliging the men to keep the windows shut and aggravating the overrr.:..: y '~z. The men were 'insufficiently clothed, their cvevcoatn having boon taken by the Gc-ma;;*, land their clothing was reduced to (rags. Many had neither coats nor [socks, and others wrapped fchc'r feet 'in straw. None ivere able to change :their clothes, and there was no means of washing their clothes. The food was bad and insufficient, and underfeeding deplorable, and even the can'teen, whereat prisoners had formerly bought additional food was closed .when the first case of typhoid appeared, and only when the epidemic was J nearly overcome, had they enough food, because they were then able to get consignments from England.

A TALE OF HORROR. THE WORK OF FIENDS. (Received 10.25 a.m.) London, Ap.il 9. It is impossible to allege a general shortage of medical requisites in Germany as the English doctors saw abundant supplies in Wittenburg town yet the plague-stricken camp strived for months to obtain the barest necessities of existence. Simple drugs were not even provided nor surgical dressings. Above all the British suffered, being the victims of special hostility from the camp's beginning. The outrageous Germans decorated Aschen-" bach in view of his neglect, for which he must answer one day. The report pays the warmest tributes to the work of the doctors and orderlies. All laboured unsparingly, fully conscious of the dangers, but risking their lives without thought. Many laid down their lives for their comrades as fully as on the battlefield. The committee hoped this devotion would be remembered at the proper time. The prisoners had no vitality sufficient to resist disease where there was a very venomous one. One cupful of soft soap had to last 120 men many weeks. On the outbreak of the epidemic in December, 1914, the German staff and guards fled, and all sup-\ plies were thereafter pushed into the,, camp down a shute. The tfood was hauled, in on rails. There was only_ one hospital for the suffering hundreds of patients. The Germans, on February 10th, sent Majors Fry and Priestly and Captains Sutcliffe, Field, Yidal and Lauder to' the scene. 1 They had been taken prisoners in defiance of the Geneva. Convention. They found the men were gnunt and strangely pallid, and received them in apathetic silence. The rooms were unlighted, and the men marched aimlessly up and lown. Some were already lying on johe floor. The conditions during tltfj,, four weeks from the 11th were full of horror. There were no mattresses in the improvised hospital, and men dreaded to go there. Fifty secret cases were discovered rn one compound containing a thousand men and infected mattresses had to be employed even in the hospital. Patients had to be; carried on the tables on which the prisoners eat afterwards, and the tables could not be washed owing to the absence of soap. The Germans refused to allow the typhus patients to be separated from the other men, and they lay delirious in their clothes on the bare floor so closely packed that the doctors moved about among them with difficulty.